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DVDCCA v Bunner and DVDCCA v Pavlovich

The DVD Copy Control Association (DVD-CCA) sued dozens of unnamed individuals who live around the country and the world for publishing DeCSS, software code that decrypts the data on commercial DVDs. The DVD-CCA claimed that defendants misappropriated trade secrets when they published DeCSS.

This case follows two main paths, Bunner and Pavlovich, both of which went before the California Supreme Court. EFF was successful in defending both.

In Bunner, the DVD CCA summarily dismissed its claims after the California Supreme Court ruled that computer programs could be preliminarily restrained from publication only in very narrow circumstances. The California Court of Appeals ruled that those circumstances were not met in Mr. Bunner's case because the program was not a trade secret at the time it was published, but instead was widely available around the world.

In Pavlovich, the California Supreme Court ruled that Matthew Pavlovich, a Texas resident who published DeCSS on the Internet, could not be forced to stand trial in California. The landmark decision laid out clear jurisdiction rules for claims arising from publishing information on the Internet. DVD CCA's attempt to seek U.S. Supreme Court review of the decision was also rejected.

At issue: The First Amendment's protection for technically oriented speech. In Bunner, EFF established that trade secret legal claims cannot be used to censor publication of information that is already available around the world due to publication by others. In Pavlovich, EFF established that internet publishers cannot be forced to defend litigation in California when their publications have "general effects" in industries located in California but the publishers have no other contacts with the state.

EFF's role: Pay for costs, serve as co-counsel and coordinate the defense of this case.

Global Internet Liberty Campaign member statement: Eighteen international GILC member organizations released a statement opposing the DVD Copy Control Association's (CCA) suit against people who have posted information about the DVD Content Scrambling System. The letter points out that the controversial DeCSS software is legal reverse-engineering needed to provide interoperability of DVDs on different computer systems. The statement also explains that DeCSS does not enable the practical duplication DVDs and that DVDs can already be copied through other available means. (Jan. 14, 2000)

Declaration of Espen Tøndel in Further Support of DVD CCA's Application for a Preliminary Injunction (Jan. 14, 2000; misdated Jan. 18). GIF format.

CA appellate ruling overturning an injunction forcing Andrew Bunner and numerous other defendants to halt Internet publication, pending the outcome of the trial, of free software that allows people to play DVDs without platform & region restrictions imposed by movie studios. The state appeals court ruled that the lower court's injunction was a prior restraint against free expression protected by the First Amendment.